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A fire has prompted officials to ask Michigan residents and businesses to turn down their thermostats.

Gas flowing from a Consumers Energy site in Macomb County was shut off after a blaze at a compressor station on Wednesday. The firm provides natural gas to 1.8 million customers.

Sally Talberg, the chairman of the Michigan Public Service Commission, said: "This unfortunate incident happened at a difficult time for our state and we ask that everyone do what they can to make sure there is a plentiful supply of natural gas to keep everyone safe and warm during the extreme cold weather."

She said turning thermostats down "a couple of degrees," blocking leaks around doors and windows and unplugging electronic device when not in use would help.

"We understand the timing of this situation and our request to customers is not ideal given today’s extremely cold temperatures," Consumers Energy said in a statement.

The company added that it was "working with suppliers to bring other gas on through other means."

Due to extremely high demand for natural gas with record-low temperatures, and an incident at a facility, @ConsumersEnergy has asked everyone who is able to please turn down their thermostats to 65° or less until Friday at noon. #MIREADYpic.twitter.com/FWKCZnu9QA

While residents in Chicago hunker down indoors during the Polar Vortex, one good Samaritan offered to help shelter 70 homeless people after the Chicago Fire Department had to confiscate nearly 100 propane tanks that were donated to the group to keep them warm.

Officials with the fire department said the tanks had to be taken away after one exploded.

The Salvation Army Metropolitan Division in Illinois was contacted by the fire department about the group and were in the process of making arrangements for them to go to a warming center when the fire department told them that someone had offered to help by paying for hotel rooms.

Jacqueline Rachev, a spokeswoman for the organization, said she is not sure of the person’s identity.

The anonymous good Samaritan isn’t the only person trying to help the homeless during the deep freeze. Khloe Thompson, an 11-year-old girl in California, started a GoFundMe account Tuesday to raise money for Chicago’s Salvation Army, according to the Chicago Sun Times.

As of Thursday afternoon, the GoFundMe had raised more than $48,000.

“I’ve watched the news about the polar vortex and I’ve seen how cold it’s getting across the country, especially in Chicago,” Thompson said in the GoFundMe. “The homeless population needs our help."

Some regions affected by the polar vortex are going to feel downright balmy in just a few days.

"There‘s going to be a 60 degree temperature rise" in some areas of the Midwest, said Greg Carbin, chief of forecast operations for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's weather predictions center. "It is pretty remarkable," he said.

Chicago, where the mercury fell to minus 22 Wednesday, can expect temperatures in the 50s on Monday.

In Minneapolis, the low temperature was minus 28 on Wednesday, but by Sunday the high is forecast to be 45 degrees.

Bismarck, North Dakota, suffered through a minus 33 low on Wednesday. On Friday, the temperature is expected to rise to 37 degrees.

Detroit saw a low temperature of minus 12 on Wednesday, but Saturday could bring a high of 37.

Des Moines, Iowa, dipped to minus 20 degrees on Wednesday and is forecast to see a high of 45 degrees on Saturday.

Carbin said that following this "pretty dramatic turnaround," temperatures are expected to fall again later in the week. But don't worry. "It’s not going to be quite as cold," Carbin said.

Two young children in Illinois were found walking alone outside of their apartment building in the freezing temperatures, a spokesperson for the Cook County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday.

The children, a 3-year-old boy and 5-year-old girl, were found just after 2 p.m. Wednesday in the village of Arlington Heights. One child wasn’t properly dressed for the weather, the sheriff’s department said in a press release.

A 26-year-old mother in Lawrence, Kansas, was arrested early Wednesday morning for allegedly leaving her children, ages 2 and 3, in a car with no heat, the Lawrence Police Department said in a tweet.

The woman, whose name was not released, was allegedly kicked out of the Playerz Sports Bar around 1:40 a.m., the department said in a press release.

Police were called when the woman tried to get back into the bar.

By the time police arrived, the woman had left the bar in her car but officers later found her. She was arrested on charges of aggravated endangering a child and operating a vehicle under the influence.

Authorities said the children, who were not injured, were left in the cold car "for a substantial amount of time." Temperatures in that area Wednesday morning was around 5 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.

"We can’t stress enough how dangerous this cold is. Please take proper precautions, and use common sense," the police department said in a tweet.

“We work hard to deliver on our fast, free shipping promise, but weather conditions are out of our control,” Amazon said in a statement. “Customer service is available to work with any customer who is experiencing an issue.”

By the time the chief of the Cameron Fire Department in Wisconsin finished battling a house fire, he was covered in snow and ice. It was so cold in Wisconsin on Wednesday morning that the water from the fire hose that splashed on the chief turned to an icy mix.